Eric Decker, the Gophers’ all-time leading receiver, was with New York Jets in 2015 when he returned home to give a speech.

At the St. Cloud Times' Central Minnesota Sports Awards in St. Cloud, Decker stressed the importance of savoring high school memories, like the ones he made as a 2005 graduate of Rocori High School in Cold Spring.

St. Cloud Tech sophomore receiver Brevyn Spann-Ford was listening in the audience.

Two years later, Spann-Ford has committed to the Gophers’ 2018 recruiting class and plans to sign a letter of intent on Wednesday.

With his high school career blossoming, Spann-Ford and Decker are now linked in another way.

Gregg Martig, football coach at St. Cloud Tech the past 23 years, gave the lofty — and possibly too-easy — comparison between Spann-Ford and Decker, who holds many Gophers records, including career receptions (227) and yards (3,119).

“I would say Decker was a little bit more a front-line fast wide receiver, but in terms of overall where were they are at in their senior year, I would say Brevyn is a little bit ahead of where (Decker) was,” Martig said. “I think Decker really advanced at the U.”

This comparison isn’t news to Spann-Ford, who had 176 receptions, 2,657 yards and 38 touchdowns in his four-year high school career.

Buy Photo

Tech's Brevyn Spann-Ford is stopped by Apollo defenders after making a catch during the Friday, Sept. 1, game at Apollo High School in St. Cloud. (Photo: Dave Schwarz, dschwarz@stcloudtimes.com)

“It’s crazy just from being in the same conference that he played in,” Spann-Ford said. “I can’t believe it sometimes.”

While Decker has 45 receptions for 472 yards and a touchdown with the Tennessee Titans in his eighth NFL season, Spann-Ford played both ways for the first time as a senior for the Tigers. At outside linebacker and defensive end, he had 79 tackles, including 10 for lost yards. Martig said high school opponents often chose to run away from him.

Spann-Ford, who is 6-foot-7, 240 pounds, could move to tight end at Minnesota. His ability to be physical on defense portends an aggressiveness necessary to run block with the Gophers.

“We liken him a lot to” Decker, Martig said. “He’s a little bigger (than the 6-foot-3 Decker), so the physicality part, I think, he’s ahead of the game. Both of them extremely athletic.”

Titans wide receiver Eric Decker (87) makes a catch during warmups before the game at University of Phoenix Stadium Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017 in Glendale, Ariz.
(Photo: George Walker IV / Tennessean.com)

Martig says Spann-Ford, the only freshman starter at Tech in his 23 years, could add 30 pounds of muscle once he gets into the Gophers’ strength and conditioning program. Similar to his father, LeTroy Spann, who played basketball at Division II St. Cloud State, Spann-Ford is also a standout forward on the Tigers hoops team. He plans to enroll at Minnesota in June.

“I’m more of a mismatch guy,” Spann-Ford said. “I like the jump balls in the corners and I like to use my hands more than my body. Just boxing out a defender and going up to go get a ball.”

One key game Martig recalls was in Spann-Ford’s sophomore season in 2015. St. Cloud Tech was playing Monticello, which starred Conner Olsonnow, who is now a starting guard/center for the Gophers.

“They had a real big offensive line and powerful running attack,” Martig said. “We couldn’t stop them running and they couldn’t stop whatever we did with (Spann-Ford). We handed him the ball. We threw him the ball. We put him in the slot. We put him at wideout.”

Spann-Ford had two touchdown receptions in Monticello’s 50-42 win in the Section 6, 5A playoffs. For all his big-time performances and accolades, Spann-Ford isn’t the type to talk about himself.

“He’s not necessarily a big rah-rah kind of guy,” Martig said. “For us, he’s really a kid that takes time to help kids that aren’t nearly as talented as him understand what we are doing. … He’s a pretty high-quality kid.”

As for his spot as the No. 2 recruit in the state, Spann-Ford deflected its significance. “It’s nice,” he said, “but I don’t put a lot of stock in that.”